Joel is currently stable. Yesterday when I was there I spent 3 hours staring at a vitals monitor practically holding my breath as I would watch his blood pressure and heart rate spike wildly due to the swelling in his brain. His vitals are now stable which is a very good thing. That's what we need. We want everything to stay stable and the swelling to decrease by the time we get more CT scan results in a couple days.
I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has been praying. The outpouring we have received has been amazing. We have a small group of prayer warriors that my Dad has organized that have prayed over us for years and have started intensely fasting for Joel. Our church, I adore my church. People are signing up on a spreadsheet (thanks Lauren!) to take hour long shifts to pray over us so that we are literally covered in prayer 24 hours a day. Then after they pray they write down scriptures that God has placed on their hearts. The body that I get to be a part of-they blow my mind. We are truly so loved and honored by them. Thank you also to anyone who has commented on our blog that they are praying. I'm not able to comment back on my phone but I read each and every comment. I read each and every text that people send me. We are not alone in this fight. We have thousands of people who are reading this blog now from all over the world. It blows my mind to know we are covered in prayer by that many people.

When the mountains fall
And the tempest roars You are with me
When creation folds
Still my soul will soar on Your mercy

I'll walk through the fire
With my head lifted high
And my spirit revived in Your story
And I'll look to the cross
As my failure is lost
In the light of Your glorious grace

Let the ruins come to life
In the beauty of Your Name
Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign

When the world caves in
Still my hope will cling to Your promise
Where my courage ends
Let my heart find strength in Your presence

Let the ruins come to life
In the beauty of Your Name
Rising up from the ashes
God forever You reign
And my soul will find refuge
In the shadow of Your wings
I will love You forever
And forever I'll sing

Sarah Rodriguez Rhodes

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Ellis Update: Today was a hard morning, guys. We got to the hospital & things just felt all wrong. I don’t know how to explain it other than that. Then the anesthesiologist had issues with some secretions Ellis was having that we were told amplified her risk during the surgery while under anesthesia. Given the past things we’ve walked through, we just decided it wasn’t a risk we were at all willing to take. So we made the decision to go home, re-group & do the surgery another day. Since the surgery is elective we had our medical teams full support in this decision. We are home now & doing well. This wasn’t an easy decision to make. For months we’ve prepared mentally, emotionally, schedule-wise, financially etc for this day. But we have to be lead by peace. And if those giving her medical care also weren’t completely at peace, it just wasn’t the right time, for whatever reason. I don’t always understand the “why” but I won’t always & I’m ok with that. We appreciate your prayers & promise to keep you informed of when her surgery will be in the coming months. Also, the day wasn’t a complete loss...Ellis did get to hang with the cute hospital dog-so at least that part was a win ☺️ Looking for some kind of humor-it’s been a rough day.

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